Collapsible bow construction for an automotive vehicle



- F. HUMER 1,826,399

COLLAPSIBLE BOW CONSTRUCTION FOR AN AUTOMOTIVE VEHICLE Oct. 6, 1931;

Filed Feb. 14; 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR v 2? Ir f1 2/ m e 7:

ATTORNEY Oct. 6, 1931. w I F. HUMER I 1,326,399

COLLAPSIBLE BOW CONSTRUCTION FOR AN AUTOMOTIVE'VEHICLE Filed Feb. 14, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 4 INVENTOR Fr nir HUI7Y71 ATTORNEY 50 sisting mainly of the central bow Patented Oct. 6, 1931 UNITED, A S1 PATENT.O'FZFICBT' FRANK HUMER, OF DETR( )IT, MICBEIGAN, ASSIGNGR TO GENERAL;MOTORS, CORPORA- TION, OF DETROIT; MICHIGAN, A 'CORPORATION OE DEL AwARE I ooLLArsIBLE BOW coNs'rR caIoNroR AN Auro vro'rivnjvnnroLn This invention relates to a' collapsible bow construction for an automotive'vehicle'. This invention is more particularly con- A cerned with that type of collapsible bow construction in which the bow construction, if normally collapsed, the same would pro]ect rearwardly an undesirable distance; for example, in the roadster the bow construction M, would project rearwardly over the rear deck. 1 It is an object of this invention to produce a collapsible bow construction in whichsuitable'means are provided for automatically drawing the bow construction forwardly while it is being collapsed to bring the bow 1 construction to the desired position forward of the normal position to which the bow construction would fall were it collapsed without being drawn forward.

'It is a further object of this invention to 5 produce a center bow and top rail construction of such a nature that in the collapsed position the side railswill fit within the said center bow. p f

In the'drawings: I

Fig. 1 is a side elevation with part of the canopy broken away showing the collapsible bow construction in raised position.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary plan view of the collapsible bow construction in raised position.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation showing the bow construction partially collapsed.

Fig. 4 is a detail showing the bow con- H struction fully collapsed.

Fig. 5 is a section along the line 5-5 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a section along the line 66 of Fig. 2. v

r Referring more particularly to the drawings in which I have shown my collapsible bow construction as applied to a roadster although it is understood thatfthis type of collapsible bow construction can be equally well used on other types of vehicles, the cowl may be designated 1, the rear deck 2, the door 3, the windshield pillar 4, and the header bar 5.

The top canopy 6 is arranged to be supported by a collapsible bow construction conthe rear by a cantilever action.

Application filed February 14, 1930. Serial no. 428,282

how 8, the auxiliary rear bow 9, and theside railslO; 1

The side rail'lO consists of the two sections a and 10b pivotally connected to each 7 nected to the rod 10a' asat 14 and to the center how 7 as at 15. Thejoints 11 and 12 arenot lock joints but, as is nicelybrought out in Figs. '1 and 2, when the rail sections 10a and 105 are in open position 'the link or 13 engages the pivot 11 which firmly holds the sections 10a..and 10b in extended position When it is desired to collapse "thetop' the section 10a of the side railis pivotedupward- 'ly which causes" the section 10?; to pivot downwardly about the pivot 12 and consequently permitsthe link 13 to pivot downwardly about the pivot15 so that the sections 10a and 10b and the link 13'can'be collapsed and positioned substantially within the 7 central bow7. v a The central bow '7 ispivota-llyconnected "to the body as at 20.:The central bow 7' is -maintained in'uprightposition; by the collapsiblebrace'2-1 which is pivotally connected to the central bow 7 as "at 22and to the body at 23. Thecollapsible brace 21 is provided with a suitable lock joint 23 which permits it tobe collapsed 'downwardlyonly as shown in the dottedlines (Fig.

The-rearbow 8 consists of two sections 24: and 25 which garecon'nected by=the-lock joint 26. The section 24-o'f the rear bow 8 has pivotally mounted thereupon the auxiliary rear how 9' as at 27. Section 25'of the rear bow 8 is pivotally mounted as at'28 upon a suitable bracket 29 carried by-th-e body. The section25 is angular as shown by the drawings and has one end connectedto the center bow 7'by the link30 =whichis pivotally connected to the center bow causes the section lOb'and link 13 to pivot" in a'counterclockwise direction about the pivots 12 and15 respectively which in turn col lapses the side rail 10 and link 18 so that they fit within the central bow 7. After this has been done thecentralbow 7 is pivoted rearwardly in'a clockwise direction about the pivot 20 and; at the same time the collapsible brace 21 is collapsed inwardly and downward.- ly. As the central bow 7 moves in a clockwise direction about i the pivot 20 it in turn,

fjhrough the link 30, causes the angularsection 2-5 of the rear bow 8 to pivot in a counterclockwise direction about the pivot 28 of the supporting brace 29. This in turn causes the lock joint 26 and the pivot 27 to be rotated in a counter-clockwise direction about the pivot28 and in turn moves the rear bow secti on 2 1' and auxiliary how 9 forwardly or to the left as viewed in Fig. 1. The desirability of this forwardmovement of the rear bows 9 and 24 is obvious when one considers that if the bow sections 24 and of the rear how 8 were. integraland this rear bow 8 in turn were pivoted clockwise about the pivot 28 it would extend over the rear deck 2 which would be undesirable. Hence, as constructed the rear bow Sand the auxiliary bow 9 are movedforwardly or to the left as shown in Figs. 3 and 4 as the central bow? is pivoted clockwise about the pivot 20 to bring the entire bow construction within the nest 34: provided therefor.

Y It willbe noted that while the bow construction is being collapsed thatthe rear bows 8 and 9 are subjected to two distinct movements; namely, the section 24 of the bow '8 and the how 9 pivot clockwise about the respective pivots '26 and-27; (This may be called the normal colla singmovement of the said bows.) Secon ly, the bows, owing to the counterclockwise rotation of the angular section 25, are moved to the left or forwardly relative to the body. Hence, the invention consists of a collapsible bow fconstruction that is essentially characterized by associating one part of the bow construction with another part of the bow construction so, that the normal collapsing movement of the one'part of the bow constructioncauses, not only a normal collapsing movement of the otherpart of the bow construction, but an additional or secondary movement of that part of the bow construction relative to the body of the vehicle. i .i 1

What I claim is: 7 v c 1. A collapsible bow construction for an automotive vehicle comprising in combination a forward bow pivotally mounted on the vehicle body, a rear bow comprising two pivotally connected sections the lower of which is pivotally mounted on the vehicle body, a link pivotally connecting the forward bow with the lower section of the rear bow forwardly of the pivot connection of the lower section of the rear bow with the vehicle body,-and brace comprising two sections having a lock joint, one section of thebrace being pivotally connected to the front bowv and the other section being pivi otally connected to the vehicle body whereby when thesaid braceis collapsed the front bow pivots rearwardly toward collapsed position and automatically through the link connection with the rear bow simultaneously collapses and draws the rear bow'forwardly. 2. A collapsible bow construction for an automotive vehicle arranged to be collapsed within the confine of a well provided therefor in the vehicle body comprising in combination of aforward bow pivotally mounted to the vehicle body, a rear bow comprising an upper section and a lower section pivoted together with a lockjjoint, the lower section of ,the rear bow being pivoted to the vehicle body intermediate its ends and having a portion projecting forwardly from the said; pivot, a link pivotally connecting the for wardly projecting end of the lower section of the rear bow with the lowerportion of the forward bow, and a multiple sectioned brace with a lock joint pivotally connected connecting link simultaneouslycollapse and c draw the rear bow forwardly tal est the en tire collapsible bow construction within the well provided therefor,

In testimony whereof I aliix signature.

FRANK HUMER-f. 

